government

NSA whistleblower: U.S has been hacking into China, Hong Kong

The U.S. government had been hacking into computers in Hong Kong and China for years, says NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The former CIA employee stirred up a hornet's nest recently when he leaked details about PRISM, a National Security Agency program that collects certain user information from Internet companies and phone service providers in an effort to track down terrorists.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Snowden said that PRISM actually extends to people and institutions in Hong Kong and mainland China. The NSA itself has been hacking into computers in Hong Kong and China … Read more

Syrian activists' Facebook pages said to be shuttered

Just as Syria recovers from last week's countrywide Internet outage, a number of government opposition groups are reportedly saying that their Facebook pages have been shuttered, according to Al Arabiya.

One of the pages that is no longer available is the profile page of the former brigadier general of the Syrian Republican Guard, Manaf Tlass, who defected from the government last year. According to Al Arabiya, his page was visited by tens of thousands of Syrians to discuss the country's civil war.

Tlass told Al Arabiya that he reached out to Facebook to get his page back online … Read more

Mozilla takes hard stance on protecting Web site certificates

It's happened to everyone -- you visit a Web site and instead of the browser taking you directly to it, you get a notice that says you're about to visit an untrusted site. The reason this happens is because the browser hasn't certified the site.

This type of action could mean a slow death for such a Web site, since messages like these tend to scare off users.

Mozilla, Firefox's parent company, is now contemplating whether to give international telecom giant TeliaSonera this type of punishment, according to the Register. Apparently Mozilla might refuse to include … Read more

Apple's mea culpa works wonders in China

Apple CEO Tim Cook's apology to China over his company's warranty apology seems to have succeeded in reducing tension with the Chinese government.

Global Times, a state-run media outlet in China, today wrote that Apple's "apology letter has eased the situation, softening the tense relationship between Apple and the Chinese market," according to Reuters, which was first to report on the statement. The Global Times also said that Apple's apology was "worth respect."

Tim Cook yesterday issued an apology, saying his company was sorry for the lack of communication on its warranty … Read more

Russian government selectively blocks site access

The Russian government has turned to censorship on the Web.

According to the New York Times, the government is utilizing a new law, which the Russian parliament approved in July and which took effect in November, that allows the government to selectively censor Web pages within its borders because of content that it believes is illegal or harmful to children. The law's supporters have said that it protects against child pornography and other harmful content, but detractors say that it's giving the government too much power to block whatever it deems unfit for its citizens.

Although smaller sites … Read more

BlackBerry 10 erroneously reported as not secure enough by U.K.

Updated at 3:30 p.m. PT This article, originally headlined "BlackBerry 10 deemed not secure enough by U.K.," previously reported the U.K.'s Computer Experts Security Group had determined that the new operating system did not meet its standards. At the time of its publication, the CESG was unavailable for comment, so the article relied on the reporting of The Guardian. We have since learned that report was inaccurate. We have received comment from the CESG that indicates BlackBerry 10 has not yet undergone required testing. We have included the group's statement in this … Read more

Defense Department opens contracts for Apple, Google

The U.S. Department of Defense announced today that it was further dropping its exclusive BlackBerry contract and opening all of its mobile communications networks to Apple, Google, and other device makers.

"The Department of Defense is taking a leadership role in leveraging mobile device technology by ensuring its workforce is empowered with mobile devices," Defense Department Chief Information Officer Teri Takai said in a statement today. "As today's DoD personnel increasingly rely on mobile technology as a key capability enabler for joint force combat operations, the application of mobile technology into global operations, integration of … Read more

Apple lands $159M government contract for iPhone, iPad

BlackBerry devices typically have been the go-to phones for government accounts, but that seems to be changing. Apple is increasingly getting into the lucrative business contract game.

The New Zealand Police announced today that it has sealed the deal for 6,000 police officers to get an iPhone and 3,900 officers to also get an iPad, according to The National Business Review. The contract is for 10 years and the police force expects to spend around $159 million on the initiative.

Apparently, the New Zealand Police chose Apple products over BlackBerry, Google, and Microsoft after surveying its officers, who … Read more

The 404 1,199: Where it's a breath of dead air (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Republican senator says video games are a bigger problem than guns.

- DMVs ban txtspeak on license plates.

- The greatest hacker T-shirts this planet has ever seen.

- Amoeba Music finally puts used, errr, rare records for sale online.… Read more

How to participate in the open-government movement

Four years from now, the government will still be partisan, public agencies will still operate out of public view, and citizens will still be excluded from participating in the decisions made by their representatives at all levels of government.

But just maybe, when the 45th president takes the oath of office in January 2017, political factions will be more willing to compromise for the good of everyone, agencies at all levels of government will be more transparent, and our elected and appointed representatives will be more willing to listen to and act upon our opinions and ideas about the challenges … Read more